


From Young to Wise

by SinningIntensifies



Category: Karneval (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, And Lots of It, Between the vampires and humans, Detective!Gareki, Detective!Shishi, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, FML, Full Cast - Freeform, Gore, Hirato and the rest of the gang are meddling assholes, Hirato rules his fam with an iron fist, I'll go away now, M/M, Meddling Family, Mild Sexual Content, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Only if I have the courage to, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Shity humor, Unrequited Love, Vampire Turning, Violence, and Akari is like I'll do the lecturing, at least he knows how to flirt and fuck, haha - Freeform, hes fucking head over heels for Gareki, i SUCK at being funny, jealousy ensues, love triangle hell ye, maybe even, not some twilight shit though, obviously, poor Yogi, these tags are a mess, two very great qualities, vampire council drama bullshit, vampires have gone unnoticed by the humans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:56:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinningIntensifies/pseuds/SinningIntensifies
Summary: Years of Gareki's life was dedicated to working; find the body, find the clues, fuck the Bad Guy's shit up real good. He strived for perfection and never failed to achieve just that. Finally given one the toughest cases of his career, Gareki finds himself more confused than ever after meeting an odd family with close ties to his suspects.He expected to find a killer, not a hot vampire family, a deadly love triangle, or even his supposed "soulmate."How the hell does he plan to survive the drama invading his life all the while dealing with an upcoming war between bloodsucking immortals?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this won't be cringy.

The summer night air was stale and humid. Cars passed in a flash as Gareki’s eyes scanned the parking lot. His lips twitching as the stink of cigarette smoke filled his lungs. A group of obviously underage smokers sat with one another on dying, plastic picnic tables just a few seats off to the right. They laughed with one another, speaking profanities loudly unaware of the on-duty detective only six feet away. The neon lights hanging above the teens and the restaurant’s second entrance blinked rhythmically and occasionally faded from red to a dull pink from poor wiring. Girls dressed in skates and poodle skirts glided along the cracked blacktop with trays skillfully balanced in their hands. 

A lady with red cat eye glasses and a matching ascot made her way to Gareki, an unamused smile adorning her plump cheeks. She leaned over to place a water bottle and wrapped donut before the man and let herself fall into the chair across from him. She tightened the fluffy scrunchie around her extremely short seaweed green locks with a huff. 

“Evening, Reki,” the lady hummed lazily. She rested her elbow on the table, chin in hand.

Gareki sighed at the name, “long day, Ceceli? You look beat.”

Ceceli stretched in her seat and rubbed at her ankle in pain. “Yep. Being an adult sucks. Like, my ankles are on fire, and those damn kids have been here for hours. Their stupid cigarettes are killing business. And with no business means a smaller paycheck, and a smaller paycheck means I’d have to cut down on monthly expenses!”

Ceceli dropped her head on the table with a thud, miffed groans leaving her lips. Gareki gave a few small, robotic pats on his old friend’s head with little sincerity or pity. He was very used to her overdramatics by now. His eyes drifted to the neatly packaged sweet, mouth almost watering. Stars lit in his eyes as he began to shamelessly eat away at the food, Ceceli still brooding quietly in her seat. She lifted her face to peak, unaware of the red spot forming on her forehead. 

“What exactly are you doing here anyway? I’m certain you aren’t here to satiate your sweet tooth, and I sure as hell know you aren’t here to see me,” she inquired knowingly. A smirk nearly formed on the both of their faces. She knew Gareki so well. 

The detective’s gentle blue irises sharpened and inconspicuously searched for any eavesdroppers. He found his way to his cellphone and flipped it open. Paging through folder icons, he stopped and selected one. A photo of a grown man with dark hair and a bomber jacket appeared. Ceceli adjusted her glasses and eyeballed the creepy picture. The man looked disturbed, bloodshot sclerae and disheveled with facial hair. An unpleasant shiver crept down the waitress’s back. 

“I’m waiting for a friend,” Gareki informed casually, his eyes brimming with disgust and hate. Ceceli caught on.

“Yeah? And you’re certain your friend will even be here?” She couldn’t help but question Gareki’s intuition.

“Of course they are. And I’m certain they’ll be here because their spending habits refuse to say otherwise.”

“Well, Fridays are karaoke night, so I can see the weekly visits reasonable. But anyway, while you’re waiting let’s chat for a bit; we never get to anymore,” Ceceli removed her specs and proceeded to clean them with her skirt. Gareki took another large bite out of his donut. Had it been that long? He wondered to himself when the last time he could spend some quality time with his friends. 

Ceceli’s expression dropped into a pained and faint smile as she remembered a question that begun to bother her earlier that day. Her lips quivered only the slightest as the words began to form on her tongue.

“H-how… how is she?” she glanced away, already knowing the answer.

“Still the same,” Gareki’s voice was just barely above a whisper, his sight fixing onto his hands. 

Ceceli decided to abruptly change the subject; she was never one for a depressing atmosphere. “Shishi was wondering if you’d be able to take some vacation time. He was thinking of having us and the rest of the gang go down to the beach for a week or so. I mean, I know you don’t swim or anything, but he thought it would good for you to relax a bit. And Ranji will be returning from Chronomé Tech for a short vacation, and you know how rarely he gets to leave work,” she trailed off. 

Gareki only stared. He had completely forgot Ranji was visiting for the summer. His cases must have been getting to him lately. His expression fell blank. He felt like such a horrible person; Ceceli and the others were so desperate for the six of them to be together, even if only for a short period of time, and he hadn't even noticed it. 

Ceceli grew worried with the detective’s silence and began to sputter. “You don't have to give your answer right now, of course! Karoku hasn't been able to tell us any definite plans for himself either, being Nai’s coming back from college and work and all that stuff.”

The two sat in silence, letting the old juke box music fill the quietude falling over them. The gentle hums of singing began to drown in the deafening screech of car brakes as an old, rusted clunker pulled itself into a parking spot. Gareki unzipped the top half of the slim leather jacket that hung just above his waist, his eyes focused on the vehicle’s tinted windows. His fingers subconsciously brushed over the gun tucked away in a holster under his left arm. He gave a quiet breath, and flipped open his cellphone once more. 

It was definitely him; the man Gareki had been looking for all week. He could see the man’s face; it was a perfect match. 

A filthy teacher was taking part in sexual relationships with his students, and it was believed he was attacking many other students while in said relationships. Some parents had complained a few years prior, but there was never enough evidence to pin him. 

Coincidentally four days ago a murder occurred only two blocks from the man’s home. The victim just so happened to be a student of his. Her body was found in a dumpster, clothes torn and dark bruises littering her neck. Gareki had her body thoroughly examined by a coroner the moment he was given a chance. Time of death was only about ten hours before authorities discovered the body, and the cause of death was strangulation. Further examination showed signs of sexual assault and internal bleeding of her stomach from blunt force. It was quite evident whoever killed that teenager wasn’t on the best of terms with them. With a couple days’ worth of questioning neighbors, teachers, and students, and a couple hours spent at the lab, he easily concluded the gym teacher was to blame. 

Many of the victim’s friends said the coach was always finding his hands on her in some way, managing to find a reason to keep bodily contact between himself and the student, Akemi. She didn’t seem too fond of him touching her, and made it clear on multiple occasions she was uncomfortable. Akemi’s friends claimed they often found her hiding during school, crying as well, and she wasn't much like herself anymore. 

Gareki safely assumed that man had done horrible things to her when no one was around, and it made his blood boil. But he knew just like with any other case that he was to arrest the suspect and simply bring him in for questioning. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper. 

The man slowly made his way out of his vehicle, itching his stomach and slamming the door. Gareki took this as his chance to proceed with his case. The raven head removed himself from the creaky chair and casually strolled over, hips swaying. His eyes glistened with confidence.

“Excuse me, Mr. Takahashi?” Gareki asked, a fake modest look on his face.

“What do you want?” Takahashi slurred, his breath reeking of alcohol.

Gareki’s eyebrow began to twitch in aggravation. Would it really be all that bad if he chose to smash the prick’s face in? He could lose vacation time, but that was no biggie. But on the other hand, he would also be required to attend a certain amount of therapy sessions for anger management, so maybe a cool demeanor would be best. 

His façade dropped, and he proceeded to pull his badge from beneath his black tank top. He held it before Takahashi’s face by the balled chain, a smirk melting onto his pale features. The teacher looked at the shorter male in mild horror, his dead grey eyes wide in fear.

“You’re under arrest,” Gareki spoke sinisterly.  
.  
.  
.  
.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is short, I just felt the need to update it since I haven’t done so in a while. I ended up ripping my eardrum open around Christmas, and I was sick for an entire week at the time too, and than school has kinda been in the way. Idk when I’ll update again, so stay tuned.

The clacks of hands finger-blasting the fuck out of a keyboard was Gareki’s only form of “I give a shit, and I plan on putting effort in it.” His coworkers decided many years ago to leave the man in that state rather than destroying his mantra of pent up frustration. An outsider would have found it appropriate to offer words of discouragement for such a nasty attitude in the work place, but many, including the chief himself, learned to let it be. 

The rapid pounding of his keyboard drowned out the world around him as his coworkers went about their usual day. Nobody bothered to remind him of his lunch break, and he didn’t care. At times like these he never had an appetite. He went on with his aggressive clicks and continued to glare at the monitor before him. The world went on almost like clockwork as men and women scurried around purposefully, phones rang, sirens wailed, and the deafening silence that followed. 

He was bringing his final paragraph to a conclusion just as a large hand roughly grabbed the back of his shirt. Gareki looked up and glared at his chief. The old man gave him a soft and silent look, as if attempting to apologize. The elder was extremely respectful for his age, and was not the kind of person to feel entitled because of his number of years, but there was a rare moment where he had to play the role of a man in charge. Moments where he’d square his shoulders just an inch more and put more weight into his demeanor. Gareki could tell how it was one of those moments from the way the man’s deep wrinkles were scrunched closer together, and the almost desperate plea in his eyes that said it all. 

The younger man hastily stood from his seat and straightened out his burgundy sweater. He was only spared a quick glance as the elderly man stepped forward. He cleared his throat and let out in his raspy voice; “Gareki, meet Keshiki. He is the owner of a very large company interested in donating to the station.” The light quiver of his droopy brows gave away his social cowardice in the presence of another “man in charge.” It was the unseen transaction of power between the two men that left Gareki in a foreign daze. 

Said Keshiki gave a smooth chuckle and a coy wave of the hand as if he was wafting away the formality of the atmosphere, “please, Chief Hideo, there’s no need to be so formal. And besides, I am not the sole owner of Kafka Industries. Yet.” The blond man’s voice fell flat, but his confident smile remained intact. His dead blue eyes wondered over to Gareki, sharpening almost in a threatening manner. “And who is this beautiful man standing here?” He cooed with venomous delight. Gareki fidgeted under the man’s lifeless gaze and concluded there was something very off about him.

Hideo Clamped a proud hand onto the shorter man’s shoulder and stated; “this is my best detective, sir. He’s quiet but very intelligent.” Gareki placed out his hand to shake as a common gesture of acquaintanceship. To his horror, the slender blond gingerly took Gareki’s fingers and lightly brushed his lips over the pale knuckles. The noirette’s breath hitched, and he ripped away from the clasp to protectively hold his fist to his chest. A glare clawed underneath his skin, demanding to be shown, but he held his emotionless façade in place. He forced his gaze to the side and was surprised to find that they were the only ones left in the station. Then he looked at the clock and found it was ten minutes until the nightshift began. 

Chief Hideo seemed to of had noticed as Gareki turned to be dismissed for the night. He held up his large and calloused hand to relive Gareki of his duties for the rest of the evening. The two men hurriedly took their conversation to the chief’s office and left Gareki to his thoughts. 

The young detective slumped into his chair before emailing the required documents and shutting off his monitor for the weekend. His face burned vermillion as Keshiki’s unforeseen act sunk in. Nobody had been so openly, for a lack of better words, lewd towards him. He had never been the dating type; no one ever showed interest in him, and he never showed interest in them. He mused over how depressing that sounded when he put it that way. It felt more appropriate to deem his lack of human experience on the intimate level as a choice rather than a melancholy confession. 

He propelled himself out of the heavy thought by furiously shaking his head and grabbing ahold of the black backpack tucked between the side of the desk and wall. Nothing, not even his poor habit of scrutinizing everything, was going to stop him from getting his tub of ice cream and taking his happy ass home. He downright refused to let that lewd act ruin his night of laziness and unhealthy lifestyle choices. 

He slipped through the filmy glass doors and found that the night’s humidity dropped tremendously compared to earlier that day. Gareki was grateful for this, for he was a cheap ho who avoided taxis until it was physically impossible otherwise. The streets were barren like any other night, and the city’s howls slumped into a distant buzz that felt serene. It was his favorite part of the day; he loved to walk on the dim sidewalks, and he loved to feel the natural atmosphere of the big city. The day was a clusterfuck of petty theft and noisy road congestion, but night was his time of tranquility to amble for as long as he wished. 

However, on that particular night Gareki chose to hasten his wandering and approached a threadbare convenience store shyly betwixt a dead flower shop and a rundown apartment under renovation. The sandwiched building was a grungy white with blinding red LED lights akin to hellfire. They draped everything in their reach with that haunting and judgmental color. 

To escape the damning red, Gareki entered through a pair of flimsy glass doors. He curtly greeted the cashier and ventured to the narrow back aisles out of habit. The man mused over his plethora of options with no intention of buying any of them. It was more of a tactic to avoid the fact that he fell into a pattern of ice cream and strawberry wine every other Friday. There was an unspoken shame he felt for his love of strawberries, but he never understood why. Instead he meandered a bit more to grab the bottle of alcohol and scuttered to the small section of frozen and cold goods tucked away in the far corner. 

A man with bafflingly bright red hair stood in front of the clear door in search for something uncertain to Gareki. He occasionally muttered to himself and disapprovingly shook his head as he senselessly opened and closed the door. The man repeated the cycle for a good minute before turning around startled. The stranger was comedically gigantic compared to Gareki’s petite stature, yet he lacked the natural ferocity and finesse that came with the detective. The giant fumbled with the few items he held and sheepishly said, “I’m sorry,” he scooted out of the way, “I’ll probably be here a little longer, so you can go ahead.”

Gareki gave a quiet ‘thank you’ and searched for the tub of chocolate ice cream. To his displeasure the box was on the very top shelf. He could reach it easily if he went on his tippy toes, but he’d still feel the great injustice done to him and his height afterwards. The redhead seemed to notice him eyeing the carton and hurriedly retrieved it. He handed it to a seething Gareki and spewed out his apologies. 

“I need your opinion on something.” Gareki was confused by the man’s statement; they didn’t even know each other’s names for Christ’s sake. 

Hesitantly Gareki replied, “yes?”

The giant let his gaze shift to his shuffling feet, then to the freezer, and then back to Gareki. “A friend asked me to pick up some wine for dinner tonight, do you have any suggestions?”

Gareki was put off by this due to the man’s fancy garb. Not many people waltzed around town in a satin coat adorned with what Gareki assumed to be gold buttons, whether they were gilded or not, but this man did, which meant he had to be someone with money, plain stupid, or both. Typically people with money ate fancy dinners, which also meant they drank fancy wine, so it was odd that such a well dressed man with an obvious high social standing couldn’t pick out a simple drink and was in that kind of neighborhood to begin with. Gareki was very much aware of how obscure and ignorant his logic was, but ninety percent of the time he was right about people. The stranger carried himself carelessly, but the undertones of a prestigious lifestyle were painfully obvious from the way the man moved to his well kempt attire- shoes and all. Gareki was tempted to just walk away, under the impression that the man was teasing him, but he remained unmoving to genuinely think. 

“if you want something a little fruity, go with Chardonnay or Merlot. I’m not a picky drinker, but I’d say they’re my top favorites.”

The tall man nodded his head approvingly and stretched out a hand. Gareki almost felt unsettling de ja vu from the gesture. “Excellent choice! Thank you, Mr.-?” 

Gareki returned the shake with a neutral face and said, “Gareki, and you are?” 

The man’s lax smile grew in size at Gareki’s lack of hostility. “The name is Tsukitachi. Thank you again, really-“ he pulled out a pocket watch from the breast of his coat, Gareki noted it’s faded and worn exterior, and frowned at the small outdated device. Tsukitachi’s brows furrowed as he placed the watch back in his coat. He hurriedly grabbed ahold of some frozen assorted fruits and nodded his head once more. The man returned his gaze to Gareki but stopped on the police badge hanging around his neck. 

“Is that real?” His question sounded curious and lacked the typical fear of judgement that many strangers emanated. Gareki was relieved by this change. He silently sighed but answered Tsukitachi nonetheless. “Yes, I’m a detective from the station two blocks away.”

“Wow that sounds like a cool job! I would probably bother you with a bunch of questions right now, but I’m actually running late for that dinner I told you about.” Gareki nodded and stepped aside. He wouldn’t bother promising a next time because there most likely wouldn’t be one. Tsukitachi, however, must have been a believer of fate encounters and claimed he would ask Gareki all sorts of questions about his job the next time they met. The detective quietly scoffed in disbelief at the stranger’s declaration as he left through the store doors in a frenzied rush. 

Gareki ended his short-lived procrastination cession and dragged himself to the register. The pale toothpick of a boy smacked his gum in a tedious manner as his glazed eyes flared at the detective’s arrival. He would have almost been offended by the employee’s resentful attitude had it not been nearing midnight. Gareki was very much aware that the kid was one of only two workers that were employed by the convenience store and that their shifts had to be around twelve hours each due to the “all day-all night” slogan painted on the window. It pained him to think of just sitting there for hours on end with nothing but the sketchy customers bustling in at the ass crack of dawn and the company of god awful WiFi.


End file.
